A New Beginning
by God's-Nightmare
Summary: Set after Chosen. Buffy thinks Spike is gone for good, but what happens when she gets an unexpected call from Fred telling her otherwise? Spuffy, requested by Spuffy4eternity.
1. So many questions

I try to ignore it now.

I read. I draw. I take walks. I slay, even though I don't have to.

Every vampire eases the pain, y'know?

When they're gone I can imagine him making some sort of sarcastic comment.

I think he's watching me, but when I turn, there's no one there. Although, of course, there wouldn't be, would there?

I think he's still out there. Even if he's not alive anymore, I know he's out there somewhere. I imagine us meeting. Bumping into each other on a street, me trying to stake him then realising, a kiss...

I wish I could've told him in a better way. What if he didn't understand, didn't hear me over the collapsing of the building?

I don't think I was clear enough. There wasn't enough time, why wasn't there enough?

He could've left. All the vampires were dead. Why didn't he leave? Why isn't he here with me?

I cry a lot now. It's hard to forget, although everyone else seems to have done it quickly enough. Dawnie sees me staring into blank space sometimes and tells me that it's ok.

"At least you're still here," She says.

Even I shouldn't be here. I wish that none of this had happened, I wish that everything was a normal day, that I was back at home and Spike was there with me...

It's not going to happen though, is it?


	2. Solutions

"Someone's got to tell her, Angel!"

"No. It's best if Buffy doesn't get involved."Angel folded his arms. Fred sighed exasperatedly.

"I think it's affecting him. I think it's stopping his determination. He's not fighting whatever's trying to pull him into hell." Angel sighed disbelievingly, but she carried on;"He really misses her, Angel. I think it would be...productive to my experiments."

Angel span his chair around to face the wall.

"Imagine...imagine how you would've felt if no one had told you that Buffy had come back."Fred said quietly."Imagine if they had thought it best for you not to 'get involved'.How would you have felt?"

He turn again to face her.

_Terrible_.

"I don't have a contact number for her." Angel said in what he hoped was a professional voice.

"Oh...I've got one."Fred paused, seeing the look on his face. "Willow gave it to me."

He turned around again, resting his head in his hands.

"One phone call. Tell her everything."He coughed and ran his hands through his hair. "Give her my contact number. Tell her I'm always here if she needs me."

Taking this as her cue to leave, Fred backed away and left, closing the door behind her.

"Did it work?" Spike asked nervously.

"Uh-huh,"Fred told him with a small smile. "But I only get one phone call. And I've got to give her Angel's 24/7 hotline number."

Spike tutted but his smile stayed in place.

"Thanks,luv. Thanks a lot."He added sincerely, miming patting her on the shoulder.

"What are you gonna do when she comes?"

"Uh...'Hey, Buffy, it's been a while...' "He joked. She noticed that his entire attitude was different. He seemed more alive, somehow...She sighed and realised that she'd have to go before he noticed that something was wrong.

"I'd like to go through to procedures with you...Can you come to the lab at six?" She said quickly, already starting to walk away.

"Will do, pet!" He called after her.

The lab was cold and empty. She sank behind her desk, glancing at Spike's test results without even reading them.

_He's not going to be here for much longer. When you figure out how to make him corporeal again, he'll be out of that door before you can do anything about it._

She buried her head in her hands, wishing that none of this had happened. Then Spike would be in Sunnydale, and she would've never fallen in...

_No. You don't...love Spike. He's an experiment, remember? Just another experiment. Who cares if he leaves? Not you, definitely not you._

She pushed a pile of papers aside, uncovering a small piece of paper that said: _Spike's ticket out of this Hell-Hole._ The words were surrounded by hearts and followed by a telephone number. She picked up the phone and dialed reluctantly, her fingers stabbing furiously at the number pad.

"Ringing..." She muttered to herself, scribbling out the hearts and putting stakes through them.

"Hello, you have reached the Summers residence. Please leave a message after the beepy thing. Thanks!" Said a voice that Fred didn't recognise.

"Hey, Buffy? This is Fred, from...er...Angel..."She paused and gathered the words she needed. "I'm...uh...I'm ringing about Spike..."


End file.
